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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/22793869">Cerulean</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/Val_Creative/pseuds/Val_Creative'>Val_Creative</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Rainbow Femslash February 2020 [18]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Riverdale (TV 2017)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Abusive Parents, Alice Cooper (Archie Comics) is the Worst, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Bad Parent Alice Cooper (Archie Comics), Bad Parenting, Betty Cooper Deserves Better, Betty Cooper Needs a Hug, Bittersweet Ending, Dark, Everybody Lives, F/F, Femslash, Femslash February, Femslash February 2020, Mental Health Issues, Mentioned Hal Cooper, Recovery, Sad Cheryl Blossom, Season/Series 01, Soft Cheryl Blossom, Suicide Attempt, Teenagers</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-02-18</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-02-18</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-04-28 18:02:01</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Not Rated</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>500</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/22793869</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/Val_Creative/pseuds/Val_Creative</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>
  <i>Alice Cooper keeps a box of plastic wrap in the kitchen pantry. Betty has been quietly eyeing it for weeks.</i>
</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Cheryl Blossom/Betty Cooper</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Rainbow Femslash February 2020 [18]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/1620025</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>8</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>33</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Collections:</b></td><td>Femslash February</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Cerulean</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>No, Betty's pain is not romantic. No, Betty's depression and other mental illnesses are not "fixed" at the end of the story. Yes, I've attempted and then self-harmed as a teenager. No, I won't talk about it unless I feel like the discussion is in good faith and relatable to the subject matter. Just putting that out there before I go on. HI. WE GOT SOME SERIOUS AND DARK TOPICS TODAY. PLEASE DO NOT READ UNLESS YOU FEEL LIKE YOU CAN HANDLE IT. 💖💖💖💖💖</p><p>We got Day 18 "<i>Shield</i>" for the Femslash February <a href="https://femslashfeb.tumblr.com/post/190473208546/any-world-any-fandom-any-originals-however-you">prompts</a> and, yes, comments are welcomed!</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p> </p><p> </p><p>*</p><p>Nothing.</p><p>Nothing feels like billion and billions of living insects crawling around in Betty's chest. They're filling up her lungs, burrowing into her veins and swarming behind her eyes. She feels <em>nothing</em>. But the nothingness is heavy and undilating, maw-black.</p><p>Alice Cooper keeps a box of cerulean plastic wrap in the kitchen pantry. Betty has been quietly eyeing it for weeks.</p><p>She finally tucks it under her arm, carrying the box upstairs while her mother rants to Betty about Archie Andrews, scrubbing and elbow-deep in dishwasher bubbles. That softheaded idiot jock trying to be a failing musician. He's a troublemaker. He's going to leave high school <em>right into</em> a greasy fast food service job and never amount to a damn thing in Riverdale.</p><p>He's someone Betty can do <em>without</em> in her life.</p><p>There's no real shield from what Betty feels. What she hears. Thinks. Betty is going to keep on feeling the dark stain of <em>nothing</em> reaching out in her, and everything else, until she does something about it. Maybe this is what can solve her problems.</p><p>Betty's pastel pink lipstick smears all over cerulean. She covers her nose and mouth with plastic wrap, lying on her back. Pink. Pink walls. Pink-glow, shimmery lamp. Pink quilts, all handstitched and checkered and soft like a lamb. She breathes in, in. In until the insects threaten to suffocate along with her. Betty's eyes quiver shut. She tries to breath in, hard, deep. <em>Harder</em>.</p><p>Cheryl, invited in by a mumbling, absentminded Hal Cooper, walks through her doorway.</p><p>She glimpses the other teenager, watching Betty's chest heaving out, sighing loudly. It's like Cheryl isn't even surprised. That should be <em>surprising</em> in itself. Betty doesn't get up as Cheryl flips open a sleek compact-mirror, examining her perfect teeth.</p><p>"I know you told me if I didn't get out last time… you would kill me…"</p><p>Betty gulps, pastel-pink lips opening to the wonders of dead, plastic-tasting cerulean. The other girl sits on her mattress.</p><p>"But I'm not going anywhere…" Cheryl murmurs, stern-eyed.</p><p>Wait… wait, she's <em>concerned</em>?</p><p>
  <em>Really?</em>
</p><p>Betty processes this with unnerving clarity, with the other girl looking down on her, her heart sputtering. This is <em>Cheryl</em>. Cheryl Blossom couldn't spare a single fuck about another person in Riverdale if you paid her. And a rich girl doesn't <em>need</em> the money.</p><p>All of Cheryl's long, red hair spills onto Betty's quilt.</p><p>"I will be here when you go to sleep," she murmurs, lying down sideways, facing her. A look of grief and fascination on Cheryl's features. This is the most <em>supportive</em> Betty remembers anyone ever being about her decisions. And it's the one where she's trying to kill herself. Figures. "Don't worry, Betty. You won't have to be alone."</p><p>Peeling off the wrap, Betty gawks at Cheryl with indignation.</p><p>"You don't know what <em>this feels like</em>…" she croaks.</p><p>"No, I don't," Cheryl replies solemnly. Like it's a matter of fact.</p><p><em>It is</em>.</p><p>She doesn't know why Cheryl is here, but Betty feels glad.</p><p>(And not nothing.)</p><p>*</p><p> </p>
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